Brazilian Indians block railway over health chaos

Indians from seven tribes in Brazil have blocked a controversial railway, demanding reforms to the indigenous health service, which has fallen into a state of chaos.

Approximately 150 Indians have occupied the protest site for over a week, calling for the replacement of some of the directors of the government body responsible for their health care.

The Carajás railway, owned by Brazilian company Vale, runs past the territory of Earth’s most threatened tribe, the Awá. It transports iron ore from Vale’s enormous iron ore mine to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Awá’s lives changed drastically when the Great Carajás industrial project of the 1980s, including the railway and the mine, opened up their lands and exposed them to invaders who have massacred Awá families and continue to destroy the Indians’ forest.

Vale is obliged to pay compensation to the government for the Awá’s health care, but it is reported that much of the money has not reached them.